Topic: Student outcomes
Blog Post
June 12, 2026
Welcoming Ithaka S+R’s 2026 Summer Interns
Ithaka S+R is delighted to welcome four summer interns who will contribute to projects across our higher education research and advisory portfolios: Jennifer Butler, Beza Taddess, William Redding, and Brianna Zichettella. Jennifer Butler, a PhD student in sociology and social policy at Princeton University, will join the American Talent Initiative (ATI) team, contributing research and content development on topics related to bachelor’s degree attainment, access, persistence, and student success. Beza Taddess, a PhD student in sociology at Princeton University…
Blog Post
June 10, 2026
Three Perspectives on the AAC&U Conference on Learning and Student Success
In April, we had the opportunity to attend the 2026 AAC&U Conference on Learning and Student Success, or CLASS, in Tucson, Arizona. This year’s conference centered around the theme of courageous care, with sessions exploring topics from campus culture and community building to the current state of AI literacy initiatives for students and staff. During the conference, we facilitated a roundtable discussion on integrating undergraduate teaching with generative AI, sharing insights from Ithaka S+R projects exploring AI in…
Past Event
June 11, 2026
Leadership Unlocked
Using Assessment Data to Enhance Leadership Development Opportunities for FGLI Students
Encouraging first-generation student participation in meaningful leadership opportunities is a core feature of the Kessler Scholars Program, supporting more than 1,200 first-generation and low-income students nationwide. At the NASPA Conference on Student Success in Higher Education, Jennifer May-Trifiletti, Kristen Glasener, and Chrystle Greene will share how they use assessment data to strengthen leadership experiences for peer mentors and student advisory board members, highlighting adaptable strategies other institutions can apply to assess and improve opportunities for student leadership.
Past Event
June 3, 2026
Postsecondary Value Convening
In 2024, Arnold Ventures, the Gates Foundation, the Joyce Foundation, and Strada Education Foundation partnered to fund a set of applied research projects aimed at closing the gap between what we know about student success and what policymakers can actually do about it. Through a competitive RFP process they commissioned thirteen projects focused on three interlocking topic areas: institutional improvement and support; accountability in diverse institutional contexts; and governance and structural dynamics. This full-day, in-person convening brings together the researchers…
Past Event
June 13, 2026
“I just wanted to take a different path”
On the Cultural Assets that Sustain First-Generations in Higher Education and the Workplace
Behind every data point about first-generation student success is a story of resilience, negotiation, and aspiration. This session at the NASPA Conference on Student Success in Higher Education will bring those stories to the forefront through findings from a qualitative study of graduate, first-generation, BIPOC library professionals. Grounded in Yosso’s Community Cultural Wealth framework, we will invite attendees to rethink first-generation identity through an intersectional, strengths-based lens and explore how these insights can inform more inclusive programs, services, and support…
Past Event
June 10, 2026
Improving Transfer Outcomes
Tools & Strategies that Support Student Success
Transfer pathways are a common journey for many students, but too often, students lose credits, time, money, and momentum along the way. The good news? There are emerging tools and advising practices that can help change that. Join this webinar on June 10 at 2:00-3:00pm ET to explore how practitioners can better support transfer students through stronger advising and smarter use of tools. Presenters from Ithaka S+R will introduce their Holistic Credit Mobility Framework, which helps institutions and partners…
Upcoming Event
August 3, 2026
Different Contexts, Same Challenge
Building Momentum for Holistic Credit Mobility
This session at the SHEEO Higher Education Policy Conference will draw on the work of the national Holistic Credit Mobility Acceleration Cohort, a year-long community of practice developed in partnership between Ithaka S+R and Complete College America with support from Ascendium Education Group, to examine what it actually takes to move from fragmentation to momentum at scale. Grounded in the Holistic Credit Mobility Framework first published by Ithaka S+R in 2022 and advanced through a 2025 case study report…
Blog Post
May 21, 2026
The Rural Student Success Network Kicks Off
Announcing 17 Members
Late last year, we launched the Rural Student Success Network. The 17 institutions participating in this learning cohort will develop action plans to support student success in three priority areas: helping community college transfer students complete their bachelor’s degrees, enrolling and supporting adult learners, and aligning academic offerings with regional labor market needs.
Past Event
May 21, 2026
Transfer Explorer Learning Network
Reverse Transfer and Why It Matters
Join us on May 21, 2026 at 3pm ET for the next Transfer Explorer Learning Network session. This quarter, we are talking about reverse transfer and how it can be an important pathway to degree completion for students. The session will feature an overview of reverse transfer, why it matters, and the challenges that students and institutions may encounter. Then, we will hear from guest speaker Dr. David Yancey of Coastal Carolina University, who will share insights from the real…
Blog Post
April 14, 2026
Making Credit Count
How Transparency Can Improve Transfer Outcomes
A new report from Ithaka S+R, Academic Momentum and Credit Mobility: Examining the Role of CUNY’s Transfer Explorer, explores how improving transparency around credit transfer can shape student outcomes. Drawing on administrative data from nearly 30,000 students across the CUNY system, the study offers new evidence on what it takes to support meaningful academic progress after transfer.
Research Report
April 14, 2026
Academic Momentum and Credit Mobility
Examining the Role of CUNY’s Transfer Explorer
This report examines whether using T-REX is associated with improved early transfer outcomes for CUNY students who move from a CUNY community college to a CUNY bachelor’s-degree-granting college. Using administrative data for first-time vertical transfer students initiating transfer between Fall 2020 and Spring 2025, we compare outcomes for students who logged in to T-REX before or during the year they transferred and students who did not. We focus on two outcomes measured at the bachelor’s-degree-granting college: (1) the total number…
Blog Post
April 13, 2026
Measuring the Economic and Civic Value of the Humanities Workforce
Announcing a New Project
Today’s students increasingly see higher education as a vehicle to employment, and colleges and universities have a responsibility to ensure that graduates are well-positioned to meet their career goals. Too often, however, the measure of whether colleges are meeting that responsibility is reduced to a single number—students’ early career earnings. The reality is more complicated, and taking a broader, longer-term view is essential: outcomes like career adaptability, lifetime earnings, civic engagement, and even personal fulfillment all matter, too.
Past Event
April 14, 2026
Transfer Explorer: Credit Transparency Through Technology
At the New England Transfer Annual Conference, Ithaka S+R’s Chris Buonocore will join Steve Marcelynas, Karla Smith, Tara Kelly, and Kevin Caban to discuss credit transparency through technology. In this session, participants will learn how six Connecticut institutions are partnering with Ithaka S+R to develop a technology solution that helps prospective transfer students answer key questions: What options do I have? How will my prior learning count? How long will it take, and what will it cost? Transfer Explorer…
Blog Post
March 27, 2026
Evaluating the Student Emergency Grant Fund at CUNY
Announcing a New Project
In 2022, Ithaka S+R conducted a study on Georgia State University’s Panther Retention Grant program, a type of microgrant or emergency aid initiative designed to support students with immediate financial need. Through our evaluation, we found that receiving a grant reduced time to degree across student types, including for Pell recipients and students from underrepresented racial and ethnic minority groups. We also found that it reduced cumulative debt for most student groups, likely because recipients enrolled in…
Past Event
April 21, 2026
Partnerships That Matter
Accelerating Rural Student Success
At AASCU’s “Transforming Local Communities: A Symposium for Rural Presidents and Chancellors” event, Ioana Hulbert will join a cross-sector panel representing AASCU’s Rural Student Success Network, alongside panelists Peter Nwosu, Brian Noland, Stephanie Sowl, and Lisa Hunter. The panel will explore how partnerships, institutional leadership, strategic investment, and evidence-based insights transform outcomes for rural students. Learn more about the event, on April 21, 2026, at 8:30-9:30am ET.
Blog Post
March 11, 2026
Expanding Access. Improving Outcomes. Advancing Knowledge.
A Message from Ithaka S+R's New Managing Director
At Ithaka S+R, we work with leaders and policymakers to expand access to postsecondary education, improve student and workforce outcomes, and strengthen the systems that sustain scholarship and knowledge creation. We do this by providing strategic advice, conducting rigorous research, evaluating initiatives, and developing and sustaining nonprofit tools and services.
Blog Post
March 5, 2026
Assessing Comprehensive Support for First-Generation Student Success
New Findings and a Dashboard from the Kessler Scholars Program Evaluation
First-generation college students bring remarkable determination and resilience to their pursuit of higher education. Yet they continue to face significant barriers to degree completion, including fewer financial resources, less academic preparation, and less information and guidance about how to navigate the higher education system. A growing evidence base suggests that comprehensive, cohort-based support programs that address these multifaceted barriers can meaningfully improve outcomes for these students. Today, we published a new issue brief and a…
Issue Brief
March 5, 2026
How First-Generation Students Engage with Comprehensive Support
Lessons from an Evaluation of the Kessler Scholars Program
First-generation college students—those whose parents did not earn bachelor’s degrees—demonstrate remarkable resilience in pursuing higher education, yet they face greater obstacles to degree completion than their continuing-generation peers. These challenges include fewer financial resources to pay for education and living expenses, lower levels of academic preparation, and limited guidance to help them navigate the complex environment of higher education.[1] As a result, first-generation students are less likely than their continuing-generation peers to persist from year to year, graduate within six…
Blog Post
March 2, 2026
The Benefits of Institutional Debt Relief for Adult Learners
Three Years of Evidence from Northeast Ohio
For the 37 million adults in the US who have completed some college but do not have a degree or credential (SCNC), financial costs are one of the biggest barriers to returning. Institutional debt—unpaid balances that a student owes to their college or university after stopping out—is a specific challenge that many students with SCNC face. The Ohio College Comeback Compact took an innovative approach to re-enrollment by canceling up to $5,000 in institutional debt as students re-enrolled and made…
Past Event
April 8, 2026
The Challenges Facing Higher Education
Economics and Finances
Colleges and universities are facing challenging finances at the moment, both as a result of longer run trends as well as the current administration’s policies. In a lecture on Wednesday, April 8, 2026, explanations and possible responses will both be explored. Ithaka S+R’s Catharine Bond Hill will discuss the impact of the overall economy on colleges and universities. This will include the impact of rising income inequality over the last forty years on colleges and universities, as well as…